Sunday, March 17, 2013
- by Rep. John Deffenbaugh
The Georgia State Budget is still the top priority this week. Our Georgia Constitution requires that we have a balanced budget every year. HB106 is the Budget Bill for Fiscal Year 2014. There is a small increase over the FY13 budget of $539 million. Education will get the lion’s share of the increase. The FY14 budget will fully fund the Quality Basic Education for enrollment growth of 23,922 new students. Experienced teachers may see a slight increase in pay. There will be small increases in the HOPE Scholarships. Georgia anticipates a 9,000 student increase in our Technical Colleges this year.
Like all legislation, HB106 must be approved by the Senate and signed by the Governor. This means that there could be some changes as the Senate deliberates.
The budget is still very lean. We have fewer employees than ten years ago. The House is working diligently to help the state be ‘business friendly’ so that we can provide good paying jobs for our citizens.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding our state. You can reach me at 404.656-0202 or email me at john.deffenbaugh@house.ga.gov.
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your representative.
John Deffenbaugh
District 1 Georgia
Representative